Operations – Commercial Ram Program
Below are some notes from the first 5 years of the program. The evolving nature can be seen in the Commercial Ram Program 2018 Update Section.
The detailed story of Sport Pepper 2nd follows. Below is an earlier picture of him as a yearling. Picture taken at Alex Ainger’s farm. Alex was Shepherd for us in 2013 – 2014 and is a Dorset and Hampshire Show lamb producer.
GENETIC SUBGROUPS in CONVERGENCE PROGRAM
A summary of three main Bloodline groups
- Knepp Legacy Genetics, here we are referring to the legacy ewe flock which has evolved over the last 31 years that includes genetics from breeders: Cabaniss, Rife, City Limits, and Buckham.
- Hiemke / Groverman Genetics added through original Sport Pepper ram (Hiemke 12034)
- Cabaniss Genetics added through Boomer (Cabaniss 117-12)
The end result currently are three bloodline subgroups which for purposes of classification are:
- 1. Hiemke 0.75 % (75 % Hiemke X 25 % Knepp Legacy) (two layers of Hiemke genetics)
2. Hiemke 0.50 % (50 % Hiemke X 50 % Knepp Legacy) one layer of each (this is the bulk of our ewe flock)
3. Hiemke 0.25 % ( 50 % Cabaniss X 25 % Hiemke X 25 % Knepp Legacy)
The ram lamb being used for breeding in the Kansas program is Buckskin 2nd, Knepp 1611, sired by “Boomer” Cabaniss 117-12 and out of a F-1 0.50 ( Hiemke / Knepp ) ewe. He would be an example of the (Hiemke 0.25 designation), a lot of meat tied into a show profile. He looks a lot like has his daddy. (lamb picture)